Fiancé(e) Visas

U.S. citizens who want to bring their foreign citizen fiancé to the U.S. to marry and live here should apply for a K-1 fiancé(e) visa to sponsor their fiancé’s travel to the U.S. The K-1 visa allows the foreign national to come to the U.S. to marry their U.S. citizen fiancé(e) within 90 days of their arrival. The marriage must take place within those 90 days or your fiancé(e) will be required to leave the U.S.

You must meet the following requirements to be eligible to petition for a fiancé(e) visa:

The petitioner must be a U.S. citizen.

You must intend to get married within 90 days of your fiancé(e)’s arrival to the U.S.

You and your fiancé(e) must both be legally free to marry.

You must have met your fiancé(e) in person at least once within 2 years of filing your petition.

The first step is for the U.S. citizen sponsor to file Form 1-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancé(e). If USCIS approves the petition, it is sent to the National Visa Center (NVC). The NVC will assign your petition a case number and send it to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate where your fiancé(e) lives. The NVC will inform you when it has sent your fiancé’s case to the U.S. Embassy or consulate, and then your fiancé(e) must attend a visa interview with USCIS.

Your fiancé(e) will be required to bring to bring the following forms and documents to the interview:

It is important to bring evidence of your relationship to prove the validity of your relationship. Some examples of the types of evidence that can help prove a genuine relationship are photographs of you both with family and friends, cards or emails to one another, and telephone logs showing regular commination with each other.

This overview gives you general information on the fiancé visa application process. Please contact a skilled immigration attorney for more information.